Georgia Highlands College

Georgia Highlands College welcomed Phil Gaffney in August 2011 as the college’s new athletics director and men’s basketball coach.  Gaffney comes to GHC from Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, North Carolina, where he held the position of athletics director since 2005.  He also coached men’s basketball at GTCC, as well as Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, New York, Columbia-Greene Community College in Hudson, New York and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, Maryland.

Gaffney has enjoyed success coaching at the Junior College level setting the record for most wins in a season at four different schools, Georgia Highlands (34), Guilford Tech (28), Mohawk Valley (27), and Columbia-Greene (22). He led Georgia Highlands, in just their third year of existence, to the National Tournament in Hutchinson, KS and a “Final Four” appearance, losing to the National Champion in a semi-final overtime game. GHC won more games in the 2015 National Tournament (3) than any other team in history from the state of Georgia. This past year, GHC led the nation in wins (34), and reached the “Final Four” in the 2016 National Tournament. All four colleges he has coached at have achieved top 5 National rankings under his direction. Gaffney has been named Region Coach of the Year seven times. He has coached eight All-Americans, and eight Region Players of the Year. His teams have amassed over 430 wins in his 21 years as a head coach. Six former players went on to play professionally.

He started the athletic programs at Guilford Tech and Georgia Highlands College from scratch, building them into nationally known programs. During Gaffney’s tenure as Director of Athletics at Guilford Tech, three of his four athletic teams earned national rankings. Three teams won Region X Championships; two athletes were named Division I All-Americans. Three different coaches received Coach of the Year honors. At Georgia Highlands, the women’s basketball team earned an unprecedented #6 national ranking in their inaugural season. Three of the four athletic teams have achieved National rankings, with all four programs winning Regional playoff games. Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams won Region 17 Championships in 2016, with the men’s team also winning one in 2015. The women’s team reached the “Sweet Sixteen” while the men reached back to back “Final Fours”.

Gaffney holds a Bachelor of Science in physical education from the State University of New York College at Brockport.